Literature Essay

The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalism began as a protest to the general state of culture and society, mainly towards Harvard’s beliefs and teachings. It is realized only through an individual’s intuition. Transcendentalists believe that the spiritual, or ‘transcendental’, overcomes the material. In transcendentalism, each individual finds, in Emerson’s words, ‘an original relation to the universe’. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the leading Transcendentalists, and he portrays his worldview through his various poems and essays. Since essays can express so much more than poems, Emerson depicts his ideas of Transcendentalism more effectively through his essays.
Emerson’s essay, “Self Reliance”, contains many examples of why prose exceeds poetry. On page three of the essay, Emerson illustrates the following conversation that passed between a friend and him:
“On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? My friend suggested, -“But these impulses may be from below, not from above.” I replied, “They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil.” (pg 3)
Emerson’s thoughts were explained quite plainly and to the point. In poetry, it is almost impossible to lay out ones views so forwardly while still sticking to the rhyme, mood, theme and beauty of the poem
Another forward portrayal of Emerson’s transcendental idea lies on page 13. In front of one paragraph, the number one marks the first of a series of points. By the use of these numbering, Emerson allows the reader to more easily understand the main ideas he wishes to convey. Again, this is an example of the simplicity that prose portrays. One would not be able to express so clearly the main topics if one was writing in poetry.
Man is his own star; and the soul that can
Render an honest and perfect man,
Commands all light, all influence, all fate;
Nothing to him falls early or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk with us still.
The previous poem demonstrates the symbolic theme of poetry. Poems have ‘hidden meanings’. They rarely express the true intent of the poem, but instead use satire, irony, or symbolism. After some thought and interpretation, the meaning of the poem can be extracted, but prose presents itself in a more suitable way. This poem does express the worldview of transcendentalism, but it goes about it in a vague and roundabout way. Emerson’s poems, while they are beautiful, are also unclear. The ability to use dialogue or conversation adds to the reason why prose exceeds poetry. His essays better express his opinions, thoughts and ideas.
The purpose of prose is to communicate ideas, where poetry is more like art that moves one with the beauty of its language. Emerson’s essays better discuss and promote his worldview of transcendentalism. Essays possess the power of simplicity and clarity; yet they can portray the main points or topics in multiple creative ways while still keeping with the simple theme. Emerson’s essays and poems both effectively promote his worldview, but the essays have the ability of promoting transcendentalism clearly.

The One and Only

You are about to read the one and only poem I have ever written and most likely ever will write. Poetry is not my forte. This was a school assignment, which means I didn't sit down and write it all at once. This poem took me a few days to edit, rearrange, etc. So, enjoy!

A sign of freedom and pure strength,
A sign of intelligence in a lasting length.
Its power and beauty is unrestrained,
With its flowing tail and flowing mane.
The horse, in all its majesty,
The horse is a symbol of liberty.

The horse displays what human’s desire,
Speed and stability and a spirit like fire.
Its ears take in every small sound;
Swiveling and turning round and round.
The horse, standing wild and free,
The horse is a symbol of liberty.

His soft, dark eyes are loving and kind,
Seeing things to which we are so blind.
My little horse, so very wise,
Seems to sprout wings and take to the skies.
He takes me through clouds and unseen beauty,
My horse is a symbol of liberty.

My horse’s feet are as swift as thunder.
When the world seems to fall asunder,
He carries me away from all my fears
And his mane is there to wipe away my tears.
My horse is as constant as the sea,
My horse is a symbol of liberty.

Laughter

Why are humans ticklish? Is it for mere enjoyment, for the thrill of the laugh? Or does it serve some higher purpose? That light brush on our skin can trigger so many reactions- a squirm, or a laugh, or a jump. It is a form of communication where words can be forgotten. Was the tickling sensation created just for God's enjoyment, so he can watch us laugh? Watching a young child laugh is contagious- it effects all who see it. You cannot help the urge to laugh along. It spreads the feeling of joy to everyone. Laughter is a gift sent by God, to encourage us and lighten our spirits when were feeling down. We should learn to thank Him for the small, trivial everyday aspects of life, such as a young child laughing from amusement of the sensation of being tickled.

The Pink Eraser

Where would we be if we didn't have erasers? This thought popped into my head while I was taking a literature test today (five hand written paragraphs). What would we do without that faithful little pink block of synthetic rubber? Our test pages would be scribbled all over, that is for sure. In fact, what would we do if we didn't have pencils we could erase? This would certainly be a world wide tragidy. Imagine all the wasted sheets of paper because us humans are too hasty to take the time and make sure we do our work neatly. These little pink companions are truly quite useful, probably one of the most useful inventions. And its brother, the famed White Out, is just as useful as it is. This was demonstrated today by my friend Vic in government, who decided to write in pen for the first time in a while. Soon enough, out came the little bottle of White Out, ready and waiting to cover up any mistakes. Vic, who is minorly OCD, can't stand scratch marks on her notes, so imagine the state she would be in if the White Out failed her purposes? I'm sure you can use your freshly awakened imagination to figure that one out.

Thus was the case with my pink eraser in I, sitting in literature class. I scribbled away, writing who knows what about Ralph Waldo Emerson, and lo and behold, I realized that an entire paragraph was missing. Well, thats just peachy. So, I picked up said eraser, who is certainly needing a name by now, with all the referals it has recieved. The perfectly chiseled tips allow for detailed erasing, whereas the flat side is used for erasing bigger jobs. Don't ever make the mistake of erasing a whole paragraph with the corner, because this leaves a very sad looking corner that just doesn't match the rest. (my poor eraser is currently in this state)

So, my purpose for this short little narrative/essay is that do not disgrace your erasers by simply scratching out your mistakes- this proves the inward laziness that you keep so carefully hidden inside. And always, always, always write in pencil- unless that trusted bottle of White Out is resting somewhere nearby.

A Little About Me

Welcome to my blog, Secrets of the Rain. For now I’ll go by the name Lila. I am an author-in-training; writing is my passion. It is how I express myself- but I do not write poetry (if I can help it). If you choose to follow my blog, which I would greatly appreciate, I’ll tell you about some of the things you might come across.

Mainly I’ll be posting written works, be it a paragraph or an entire essay. If you’re lucky, I might even post excerpts from a book I am currently writing- but only if I find a way to copyright it because I don’t want it stolen. So, mainly essays on my perspective of things. You can expect them to range in a wide scale from serious to laugh out loud, so be prepared. Maybe, if I’m in a good mood, you’ll see some pictures up here. Something else you should expect is quotes. I love to quote people, preferably Dr Seuss, whom I think is a genius. So if I come across a good quote, it will appear on here as well as become my Facebook status. I’ll probably end up putting the essays I write for school on my blog as well, so if you come across an essay written about something that seems so complicated it’s scary, just skip it. That’s only me posting my school assignments on my blog because I’m just a nerdy grade-obsessed high-school student.

That reminds me, you’re probably wondering who the heck this girl is, and why she’s droning on about things she hasn’t even written yet. Well, as I said before, I’m going by the name Lila (no, it is not my real name but I wish it was). I attend a small private school that has a fabulous academic program. I want to go to college to be a large animal vet. I hate vegetables. Smokey, who is my -not-exactly-mine horse, is practically my life- after God and family and school, of course. I am too tall. I write every single day, mainly stories but some essays. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. My favorite poem is The Raven. I am actually writing a poem for the first time in my life so maybe, just maybe, I might post it here.

Well, now let me explain why I named my blog ‘Secrets of the Rain’. Originally, I wanted to name it When the Rain Falls, but that web address was taken. So I randomly started typing in names that popped into my head, but they were all ‘unavailable’. Now, this was all occurring as a thunderstorm was rolling in. I knew I wanted my blog’s title to have something to do with the rain, because rain tends to fascinate me. As the storm came rolling in, with flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder, the name struck me like, well, lightning. Secrets of the Rain. It captured what fascinated me about the rain- the secrets it held. Do you remember, back in science class, talking about the water cycle, and how each drop of water just runs in a continual circle? Try to put yourself in the raindrop’s perspective. It’s captivating, isn’t it? If you can’t imagine it because you’ve, as my mother puts it, “lost your imagination”, allow me to help.

Hovering, floating, in the damp mist of the clouds; millions of tiny drops of water, all waiting for the right moment to plummet to the ground in a torrential downpour. They spin and twirl in the dance of the sky. From a distance, they look like one solid mass of puffy cloud, but the raindrops know that they are all separate, they are each their own special drop. The time comes. One by one they start to fall, until more decide they want to join in on the fun. Thunder crashes, lightning flashes. The raindrops begin their screaming decent to the earth below.

Is that enough, have you rekindled that old and dusty imagination of yours, or shall I go on? Yes?

With a splat, they splash against the earth- some on leaves, or pavement, or car windshields where they linger for a moment before being swept off in a ride almost as exhilarating as the plummet towards the ground. The drops gather into puddles, and puddles run into streams. Eventually, some of the raindrops are reunited, rushing down a swift and curving river. They crash against the rocks and fling themselves over waterfalls. The river leads to the salty ocean, where they patiently wait their turn to return to the sky, only to run the cycle again.

So by now you should have a pretty good idea on what I mean about the rain. That was from a funnier perspective, but it could’ve also come from a serious side as well. Besides the epic story behind each drop, there is also the emotion of rain itself. So many things happen when it rains. In many movies, the romantic kissing scene occurs while it raining. Rain can symbolize sorrow, yet it can also represent freedom. So you see, there are so many secrets that we can unfold from a simple thing such as rain.